Project Info:

          The audience will enter a dimly lit environment. Hanging on the walls will be what looks like a series of raw, unprimed, blank canvases stretched and ready to accept paint. But where is the image? At first, members of the audience may be confused, or frustrated. They might say "Those lazy, pretentious artists, thinking they can get away with doing absolutely nothing!"
         But the title, "Take a Picture" should set off a spark of curiosity in at least some of them. A small crowd of people will gather in front of these works. They will stand around, taking pictures of these blank canvases, and they will seem rather excited by what they are seeing. As the audience steps closer, observing the crowd in their photo-taking frenzy, some of them will instinctively reach into their pocket. They will pull out their own cell phone, or one of the other numerous electronic devices modern life makes necessary and take a picture.

         These days, wherever you go, whatever you do, chances are you've got a camera on you at all times. For some reason it was decided that nearly every electronic device has to have a built-in camera. Like digital clocks in decades past, digital cameras seem to be the must-have addition to any device.

"Does it have a battery? Yes? Then put a camera in it! It already has a camera? Then let's put in two!"

         In addition to always having a camera, social networking sites encourage photos to be posted and shared. The result: People no longer simply live their lives, they document them. Every moment, every beautiful, unique, funny, horrific, and mundane detail is documented. Gone are the days of film, with only 24 exposures per roll and the constant need to ask yourself, "is this image worth it?" Memory card capacities are growing faster than they can be filled. But we keep on trying to fill them.

         Everything is photographed. Except for art. People just don't photograph art. Even if a person tries, they are usually thwarted by an angry member of the management or security team in charge of protecting the art in question. This raises the question, "why is it ok for me to look at art, but not ok for me to take photos? What's the difference between photons landing on my eye, or landing on my camera sensor?" Forbidding flash photography makes sense; the intense flashes of light could, in time, damage the pigments. But taking pictures without a flash is no different than just looking at the art. So why can't we?

         Our solution to this is to create a series of art that specifically requires that it be photographed in order to work. A viewer has to take a photo of the art to see the art.

         Armed with their cameras, these art enthusiasts will raise their hands, and take aim at the blank canvas. They will glance at the view screen out of habit to make sure the shot is properly composed. It is then that they will see it. An image, completely invisible to the human eye, will be right there, clearly visible on the camera's screen. They will put the camera down in disbelief and look at the canvas again. Leaning forward, squinting slightly; there is nothing there. They will raise the camera once more, and the image will be present again. While their eyes saw nothing, their digital camera's LCD screen will reveal an image: A smiley face. The blank canvas will have smiled at them, so they can take its picture.

         We must admit, there is a bit of deception going on here. The work is presented in such a way that the audience will expect to see finished paintings. Yet, when the audience walks into the space and is confronted by the work it quickly becomes apparent that this is not a show of finished paintings. All that is seen are blank canvases.

         Yet the canvases are not blank. What the viewer cannot see is a maze of wires, circuit boards and LEDs strategically arranged below the surface of the canvas to create an image (like a Lite Brite). These LEDs aren't your standard every-day bulbs like those found in flashlights and key-chains. These LEDs emit light that is just outside the range of human vision. But, this light is not outside of the range of a digital camera. The sensor on your camera picks up this light, and displays it on the screen, turning the invisible visible.

         Digital photography has many cited limitations: limited resolution, dynamic range, gamut, noise, depth of field, etc. We rarely acknowledge benefits: it can see what we cannot.

         Photography has the power to alter our memories. Events that are not recorded may not be remembered. The snapshots we take become our memories. Yet they are not accurate memories. We photograph the excitement, and leave out the mundane. We delete photos of unwanted individuals, airbrush out imperfections, take group shots and Photoshop in that one relative who couldn't make it to the big reunion. Years later, we forget these details. Everyone really was there. Stripped of context, a static image can take on a whole new meaning; what was mundane or accidental at the time of pressing the shutter can become iconic down the road. Digital cameras come with nearly unlimited capacities, instant visual feedback, and a delete button that lets you get rid of what you don't want to see (or, what your friends don't want you to see and are able to delete before you get your camera back). They have changed what we shoot, and they have changed how we shoot. Remember holding the camera up to your face to compose a shot?
         The digital work-flow allows for the shooting phase and the reviewing phase to be combined. Shoot, check, shoot, check. This is the key element of digital photography that this project exploits. People will see the image instantly, and see one thing, while they can look at the object directly, and see another.

         This project involves taking photos in a forbidden location or context. It seems like more and more "No photography" signs are being posted, while at the same time, people are carrying more and more devices with cameras built into them. All the while the barriers against photography (like the expenses associated with film and developing) are being lifted. Digital cameras have become very nearly ubiquitous. Affordable consumer-grade DSLR cameras have hit the market in a big way. Camcorders have dropped dramatically in price and they all have a 'still image' function. Just try and find a cellphone that doesn't have a camera. Laptops have also been given built-in web cams. Even the Nintendo DSi has been released with not one, but two built-in cameras.

         Much of the imagery for this series is derived from emoticons (smile, wink, and tongue sticking out). Not everyone is familiar with emoticons but familiarity isn't critical to the success of the piece. The simplicity of emoticons has been our inspiration in designing the images. We have selected expressions that come up often in photographs, along with some other common photography memes, (a piece of cheese makes an appearance).

         The imagery is not overly complex or highly conceptual, it does not build on past works from other artists. Take a Picture can be experienced, understood, and enjoyed almost immediately, so familiarity with the fine art world is not required in order to 'get it'. Our goal is to create an accessible series of artworks that will allow the viewer to experience the work and understand our meaning without having to read a lengthy artist statement. These choices were motivated by our own art viewing experiences. So much of what passes for public art is inaccessible to the public, we fear this is leading to a disconnect between artists and the community. For this reason, we chose to make a series that is light-hearted, and hopefully fun for our viewers.


Copyright:

         We understand that artists' images are protected by copyright, yet the success of this piece depends on the work being photographed for it to be experienced. We can't really go about creating art that requires photography, then expect to be able to complain when people start taking pictures of it.

         What can we do to settle this issue?

         Well, I guess we've got to irrevocably wave those rights. Permission is granted to anyone and everyone to make and share photographic reproductions of this work, provided the reproductions are used in a non-commercial manner. I think releasing the images contained on (or, more accurately, under) the canvas, with a creative-commons attribution non-commercial license should take care of this. Please see creativecommons.org for more info. This license does not interfere with your fair-dealing rights.


~Brad Blucher and Kyle Clements, with help from Kevin Radigan.